The Madison Trojans girls basketball team rolled into holiday break with a 73-31 win over Sand Creek in Friday's Tri-County Conference game.

The Trojans (5-1, 4-0 TCC) surprised no one when they pressured the ball from sideline to sideline and baseline to baseline. However, knowing the pressure will be there and handling it are two very different realisms. The young Sand Creek (1-5, 1-4) team found out just how different the preparation versus the execution can be against such a team.

The Aggies' roster has three freshman and three sophomores gaining varsity experience. On the opposite end of that spectrum, Madison coach Rick McNeil has seven returning players to help fill out his lineup. That difference in experience showed most of the night.

The Aggies hung in there for the first few minutes of the first quarter. When Lindsey Morgan hit a triple from near the right wing, Madison held a slim 7-5 lead. But it was then the Trojans figured out how to beat the matchup zone Sand Creek had employed. They simply beat it down the court and scored before the Aggies could ever get it set up. And if Sand Creek was able to set it up, Madison reversed the ball quickly and found open pockets to get off good shots.

"We expect our girls to play hard all four quarters regardless of who or where we are playing, and I thought we did a good job of that tonight," said McNeil. "This is always a tough place to play, and we've had a few rough outings in this gym before, so we wanted to get out early and establish our game."

After Morgan hit that 3-pointer, Madison went on a tear the rest of the quarter. A couple buckets by Haley Hudson, who harassed anyone with the ball all night long, wrapped around a bucket by Shayla Villarreal sparked the Trojans to go on a 16-3 run the rest of the quarter.

"They always bring intensity," said Sand Creek coach Catherine Herriman. "We expected that and we got it, and we are young. We are still learning how to handle that kind of pressure. But I thought my girls played hard the whole game, and I'm proud of them for that."

Hudson didn't miss a shot in the first frame, hitting all four of her field goals and both free throws. When she came out for a rest in the second quarter, the torch was handed to Ashely Morris, and Morris kept it going. Her four field goals included a triple to keep up the scoring pace for Madison.

In their attempt to claw back into the game, the Aggies turned to 6-foot-1 center Sarah Wright. Wright as able to get the ball in the middle and was able to put in a hoop, but she also drew enough fouls to get to the free throw line six times. She cashed in on five of those, scoring seven of the 12 Aggies points.

Page 2 of 2 - However, Kelsey Hudson ripped off six late points to help push Madison to a 21-point lead, 41-20, at the intermission.

Madison came out of the break with more of the same, getting a quick steal and quick buckets, with Morris keeping the hot hand. Morris scored a team-high 21 points, and 17 of those were bunched in the middle two quarters. Meanwhile, Haley Hudson pushed the Trojans pace in first and last quarters, scoring 16 of her 17 points during that time.

The persistent pressure began to wear down the youthful Aggies as the game went along. By the end, just getting shots off became more and more difficult until the last few minutes. After putting up 21 first-half points, the Aggies were only able to muster 11 in the second half.

Besides Morris' 21 and Haley Hudson's 17, six other Trojans scored, including Kelsey Hudson's 13. Maddie McNeil led the team with seven rebounds, Morris added five steals, while Villarreal and Haley Mellon each contributed four assists.

Sand Creek has reason to be hopeful as eight of its players scored, led by Wright's 12. Mikaela McCarty swiped four steals, while Wright and Sara Burdine each had four boards.